You’re gonna miss this You’re gonna want this back You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now But you’re gonna miss this Trace Adkins There was a jukebox in my room at the Gaylord Opryland and […]

The headlines say it all. ‘Year of the Woman’ Indeed: Record Gains in the House Diversity wins: All the people who made history in the 2018 midterm elections Congress’s incoming class is younger, bluer, and more diverse than ever Texas county swears in 17 black female judges after historic midterm election The 2018 midterm election […]

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” – Hamilton Wright Mabie As the year winds down and we find ourselves thrust into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I want to take a moment to reflect on what we accomplished this year and where we are […]

There is not a day that goes by that I’m not grateful for the indomitable spirit, strength and resolve of our Executive Vice President & COO Jeannie Campbell, and I’m especially pleased to honor her on Veterans Day. Jeannie served her country for 22 years in the U.S. Navy and continues to serve those who […]

The following blog first ran on Kaiser Permanente’s Institute for Health Policy Blog. We are a nation in crisis. Drug overdoses claimed 72,000 lives in 2017. Suicide rates continue to climb. Life expectancy is on target to drop for a third straight year — something that hasn’t happened in this country since the Spanish flu […]

I wish I had a penny for every time I’ve said, “We know what to do; now we just have to do it.” Nowhere is this truer than in the treatment of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in the criminal justice system. “We have good science,” Fred Osher, M.D., told us. “We […]

Today, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). We remember when too many doors were closed to those living with mental health and substance use challenges. When treatment was denied to those most in need. A time when the hope of recovery was dim for […]

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. – Neil Postman My friend and colleague, Harold Koplewicz, M.D., founding president of the Child Mind Institute, doesn’t mince words. “Mental disorders in children and teens are real, common and treatable, and it’s dangerous to ignore them,” he told me. We […]

Care for suicidal people simply needs to be safer and it should feel like care. Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States and we are failing those who need our help. We’re not training health care practitioners in suicide risk and prevention and we’re not prioritizing suicide as a central focus […]

Someone in this country dies by suicide every 12 minutes. But suicide deaths are not inevitable. For every person who dies by suicide, 278 individuals think seriously about suicide but do not die. During National Recovery Month, we must focus on keeping people alive so they can take their first steps on the road to […]